


For You, I'll be Superhuman

by johnwick



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Slice of Life, allusions to terminal illness but like nothing really sad i swear, the old man should probably be a warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-14
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-10-04 23:42:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10292594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/johnwick/pseuds/johnwick
Summary: Kyungsoo searches for the flash of pink between the aisles and wonders when his city got a superhero. A very cute one, at that.





	

**Author's Note:**

> this is the fic i wrote for my cute lil tina. crossposted from my aff (tedcruz). hope you enjoy!!!! ♡

 

There is no doubt in Kyungsoo’s mind that this is, in fact, the most boring job in the world.

 

A perpetual _beep… beep… beep…_ follows his mechanical swiping; a complementary sound effect to his unconscious movements. _Unconscious_ , because he’s gone through this same routine _way_ too many times, and for far too long.

 

Kyungsoo has been working at the local 24-hour grocery store for almost two years now, one of the three part-time jobs he has in order to sustain his borderline-broke college lifestyle.

 

But this one is the worst of them all. It’s where he works most of the time, on most nights, and it’s come to a point where his work is so repetitive that it’s transferred to his life outside the grocery store. Sometimes he’ll feel his hand moving left and right, left and right, left and right, over and over and over again without any awareness. So extreme is the monotone, that sometimes he can’t even move his arm from his sink to the dish rack when he washes his dirty plates without hearing imaginary beeps inside his head. One time, in the dead of night, he involuntarily scanned his milk over the beam emanating from his microwave at home, and only realised what he was doing when he found himself whispering, “that’ll be 2 dollars, ma’am.”

 

_Whom had he even been talking to?_

 

It’s the actual worst, he thinks, getting sucked into a zombie-like state when he serves people. _If_ there even are any people to serve, since he’s working late nights as of late, when college isn’t a priority the next day. And he’s always roped into working at the check-out counters, which is the most useless job to be doing at fuck-knows-what o’clock.

 

But hey, he’s got hoards of bills to pay, a tyrant of a landlord to satisfy, and a bottomless pit to feed.

 

Kyungsoo soldiers on (without actually moving from his spot, of course), as once again he’s swiping items left to right.

 

The elderly man in front of him smiles, showcasing a few gaps in his teeth while his eyes take turns flitting between Kyungsoo and his purchases. He smiles back awkwardly, a tight stretch of his lips over taut skin (he’ll need to exfoliate later). He tries his hardest not to judge the line-up of questionable items he passes through the scanner: Vaseline, several boxes of condoms, several boxes of tissues… Dear god.

 

Kyungsoo is working the graveyard shift again, so when he isn’t sitting behind the cash register doing absolutely nothing, he gets stuck with the – and he uses this term quite loosely – _weirdos_ of the night.

 

He would much rather stock up shelves than do this. His co-worker Jongdae, who is actually assigned at this time to stock the shelves and mop the floors and do literally everything else seems all too happy to lie around actually doing _nothing_ , so he doesn’t get why they can’t just be swapped.

 

It’s almost 5 o’clock in the morning when the man leaves and Kyungsoo spends his time switching between twitter and Instagram and Facebook so he doesn't have to think about why an old man would need that many condoms at this hour.

 

He’s back to sitting and doing nothing till his shift ends (in another hour, thank fuck).

 

He hates this job so much. There’s literally _nothing_ going on. It sucks, because he initially thought that he’d love to get paid to sit around and do nothing, but he’s so restless and bored all the damn time, he thinks that the lack of stimulation to his brain will end up with him losing more brain cells than the amount of money he’s earning.

 

Honestly, he has even wished a couple of times that the store gets robbed and he gets held at gunpoint. You know, just to spice up his life.

 

He looks up from his game of Angry Birds Pop! when he hears the hum of the automatic doors sliding.

 

And he really shouldn’t be surprised, but he just can’t help it.

 

There’s a man, a very good looking man, standing by the door. He’s tanned and tall and so, so pretty, and Kyungsoo’s hands clam up a little when he bites his plump bottom lip. He’s a little sweaty too, and the expression on his face sits somewhere between pensive and hasty.

 

All in all, the man looks totally normal.

 

Except for the pink cape, of course.

 

Kyungsoo has to blink several times to make sure he’s not imagining this. It is, quite late (early?) after all. But no, there’s definitely a long pink cape resting on the man’s shoulders, so bright and so loud and so very hard to ignore.

 

The man takes no notice of Kyungsoo’s bewildered staring, instead heading straight for the stack of shopping baskets before pulling out one. The basket is pink, like his cape.

 

Really, the cape is just so vibrant.

 

He walks past Kyungsoo, since his lane is the only entrance and exit at this time, and the cape swishes behind him. Kyungsoo tries to smile at him, but the man still doesn’t acknowledge his presence. Kyungsoo feels the slightest bit miffed. Maybe he should wear a bright fucking cape too.

 

Kyungsoo keeps his eyes on the man, on the _cape_ , whenever he crosses his line of vision. The man meanders through the store, disappearing between each aisle, stopping occasionally to pick out things from the shelves. Kyungsoo finds himself leaning against the flat surface of his counter just to catch a glimpse of pink.

 

“Dude, there’s a superhero in our store,” Jongdae whisper-screams. Kyungsoo jumps back into a normal position, fixes his posture and glares at Jongdae for scaring the shit out of him.

 

“Where in the shit did you come from?” Kyungsoo questions. His glare deepens. “And why aren’t you setting up the deli like _you were_ _assigned to do_?”

 

“Kyungsoo, you're never going to have any fun if you are never willing to have any fun,” Jongdae tuts. Kyungsoo is about to answer with a _do you actually have any fun here,_ but he decides in the last moment that he isn’t really keen on finding out what Jongdae does when he’s couped up in the storage room. Instead, he feels a hand touch his shoulder. He looks up to see his co-worker looking at him in a more serious way as he says, “he’s cute too. Get his number.”

 

He rolls his eyes and shrugs off the offending hand from his shoulder.

 

“What? I’m not going to get his number?” It comes out more of a question, but he continues resolutely. “I don’t know who the fuck he even is. He could be a serial killer. Or worse… a _postman_.”

 

Jongdae leans back, makes a face and a hand gesture that says, _the fuck?_

 

“Oooooooor, you could potentially get the number of this town’s very own Daredevil.”

 

“Daredevil doesn’t even wear a cape, Jongdae.”

 

“That’s not the poin-“

 

Their little scuffle is interrupted by a small cough, one that’s soft and commanding at the same time. It shuts them both up either way, and Kyungsoo breaks his eye contact with Jongdae to look at the man in the cape.

 

He’s got both hands in front of him, holding on to the basket – now filled to the top – and slightly swishes it back and forth in front of his legs. His eyes look at Jongdae, then Kyungsoo, then Jongdae again, before his gaze finally rests on Kyungsoo.

 

And in just that moment, his breath gets caught in his throat and somehow forgets that the man in front of him was ever wearing a cape at all. He ignores the sly look that's given to him by Jongdae, instead shoving him away with a small hiss. Thankfully, he leaves without saying anything that could potentially be embarrassing.

 

“Come on through,” he says to the man, who rushes forward and starts pulling out his items from his basket, one by one. Kyungsoo doesn’t even look at them, instead admiring the man’s sharp as all hell jawline and he concentrates. Up close, Kyungsoo can see tiny moles dotting his neck and ears, the dark lashes blinking over deep-set eyes and the cutest pout in the world.

 

“Here, let me grab that,” he reaches out and grasps the basket from the man’s hands. Kyungsoo nearly jumps when the man speaks.

 

“Oh, shit. Wait. I forgot something.”

 

He doesn’t have time to think about how deep and nice the man’s voice is, because suddenly he’s left alone with an empty basket and a line up of items on his conveyor belt.

 

Okay then.

 

He eyes the man as he marches with purpose towards the aisles, and from the back he looks completely ridiculous, the cape swaying behind him in waves. The man narrows his eyes at the shelves, looking intently at each and every item before moving on to the next aisle. He repeats this routine at every aisle, till Kyungsoo can no longer see him from his position. The cashier thinks he should probably call out and help him find what he’s looking for, but before he can, he sees a bright flash of pink and the man is back in front of him again.

 

_That was quick._

 

For a split second Kyungsoo entertains the thought that he might have super human speed.

 

No, that is totally absurd.

 

_Right…?_

 

His ridiculous train of thought is interrupted by the man coughing again. Kyungsoo looks up at his face, only to see the pathetically sad expression on it. Like, really really sad. It makes Kyungsoo feel guilt gnawing at his chest and he doesn't even know why.

 

“Um… is everything okay?” he asks with caution.

 

The man finally makes eye contact and Kyungsoo feels like he’s just killed a bunch of puppies or something. His eyes are brimmed with tears and his pout has intensified. Kyungsoo hears him sniffle a little.

 

“You guys don’t have gum?”

 

Kyungsoo is startled at the question. The tone is accusatory, but mostly despondent. His heart stutters a little at how _sad_ the other looks.

 

“Ye-yes we do.”

 

The man frowns. “But I couldn’t find it. And I looked all over.”

 

Kyungsoo is a little confused, but then he remembers who he’s working with tonight. He sighs and gives the man a small smile that he hopes is reassuring, and not like he’s enjoying his pain or something.

 

“Jongdae, the other worker, he probably forgot to stock them up. There’s some in the other register though, let me get it for you.”

 

The effect of his words is instantaneous; the sadness in the other’s face completely drops and is replaced by a hopeful kind of happiness. He sniffles again and Kyungsoo tries to stop his knees from wobbling as he makes his way to the closed register beside his.

 

“What flavour were you after? And how many packs?”

 

“Raspberry, please. And just one.”  

 

Kyungsoo brings the raspberry bubble-gum to his lane and places it on the belt with a smile. He’s confused by the frown he gets in return.

 

“I thought you would have already scanned and bagged everything.”

 

“I’m sorry, you said you forgot something and I just waited for you to get it?” the end of his statement withers into a question at the man’s slight glare. He is kind of intimidating, even with the cape on. But Kyungsoo snaps himself out of it, because no matter how intimidating or handsome this man is, what he still said was kind of ungrateful and asshole-ish. So he continues with more conviction, “I didn't know how long you were gonna take. It’s really late, I’m sorry, I guess I’m tired. I’ll just start now.”

 

The man in front of him looks away with guilt, pulling at the sides of his cape in what he thinks is shame. His cheeks redden and he looks up at Kyungsoo swiping, “N-no. I’m sorry. That was rude of me. I was just afraid of the ice cream melting.”

 

That was when Kyungsoo finally looks at the items on his belt. And shit. This man is _begging_ for diabetes.

 

All the items lined up on the conveyor belt were junk food. There’s bags and bags of jellies and candies, artificial gummies, tubs of ice cream, crisps, cookies and now the packet of gum. Kyungsoo wonders how all of that even fit into one basket, and how on earth the man’s arms survived.

 

He is not judgmental, but he _is_ envious of the man in front of him. How can one person consume all this junk and still look like _that_?

 

Kyungsoo scans and bags them as quick as he can, not wanting the man to get impatient with him again. He feels eyes on him the whole time and he concentrates hard on the _beeps_ , He can’t disregard the bright pink in his periphery and he looks up occasionally to steal glances at the man, who’s already watching him intently, bright-eyed and smiley. Kyungsoo has to remind himself of how to breathe.

 

“That’ll be 138 dollars and 85 cents, sir.”

 

“Okay,” he smiles and pulls out a card from his wallet. “And please, just call me Jongin.”

 

_Jongin_.

 

Kyungsoo isn’t really sure why the man in the cape gave him his name – and in the back of his head he’s half-expected him to say something completely outlandish, like his superhero name or something. He keeps wondering again why Jongin told him his name. It’s not like they were going to run into each other any time soon or anything.

 

As much as Kyungsoo would like to, for the sake of Jongin’s health, he would much rather that he didn’t come here any time soon to restock on all the junk food.

 

Jongin stuffs the receipt that’s handed to him into one of the grocery bags and picks them up in both arms, huffing a little at their weight.

 

“Well, goodbye then…” Jongin trails off expectantly.

 

“Kyungsoo,” he replies at the implication of it. “Goodbye.”

 

Jongin smiles at him over his pink shoulder. “I’ll see you!”

 

Before Kyungsoo even knows what’s going on, Jongin scampers out through the automatic doors into the parking lot. At this point, with the early morning light, he can only see a head bobbing up over the cars, and bright pink trailing just under it.

 

Well.

 

His job just got a whole lot interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“ _Again?_ ” Kyungsoo whisper-questions, feeling too tired and too dead inside to hide the judgement from his tone. He just needs to sleep.  “Come on man, it’s been less than a week.”

 

The familiar old face from last Friday smiles widely. The man shrugs, and leans close to the counter. Kyungsoo involuntarily leans back. “A man’s got needs, boy.”

 

“Gross. Whatever.” Kyungsoo scans several more boxes of condoms. He makes a disgusted face at it, then adds as an after-thought, “at least you’re using protection.”

 

The old man chuckles slightly, but Kyungsoo barely hears it. Everything is reduced to white noise when Kyungsoo spots him again.

 

It’s Jongin. He’s back, and so is the cape.

 

This time he isn’t as sweaty, and he actually makes eye contact with Kyungsoo at the get go and smiles. Kyungsoo suddenly feels wide awake.

 

He finishes swiping the man’s things in newfound urgency, bagging the items and placing the change in his wrinkly old hands, being careful not to touch him directly. Kyungsoo shudders a little, remembering what exactly is in those bags. The man leaves with a sleazy smile.

 

Kyungsoo hurriedly leans over the counter to look for Jongin, and he can just about see him in aisle 3. The cape flutters a little near his knees as he reaches up and deposits stuff into the basket on the ground. Kyungsoo tries to distract himself from staring at what he can see of Jongin; he doesn't want to look like some creepy dude perving on customers in the early morning.

 

But he really can’t drop his gaze from Jongin when the other steps out from behind the aisle, holding a filled basket in front of him.

 

He’s wearing denim _overalls_.

 

Kyungsoo has never seen a man more adorable than the one bashfully making his way towards him, both hands clasped around the basket swinging in front, and one strap of his overalls falling down his arm. He’s wearing a salmon pink t-shirt underneath and he just looks so _cute_.

 

“Hi again,” Jongin greets him cheerfully as he starts pulling out each item, one by one and places them on the conveyor belt.

 

Kyungsoo is about to reply when Jongin smiles at him, and all he can do is respond with a small noise that’s somewhere between a squeal and a strangled cat. Jongin laughs at that and Kyungsoo smiles too, despite his sudden craving for death.

 

“Hi,” he tries again, more confident. His voice comes out deeper than he wanted to so he still sounds stupid. Jongin doesn’t seem to care though.

 

He starts scanning the items swiftly. Though Jongin doesn’t seem to be in a hurry like he was the last time he was here, Kyungsoo still doesn’t want to upset him. Or waste his time or anything. He bags them all as quick as he can, having trained to do so, and belatedly notices how they’re all junk food again. There’s more ice cream, more candies and gummies and more crisps and Kyungsoo seriously starts to worry for Jongin’s health. It’s almost the same as last time, but there’s still one thing that’s missing.

 

“Uh,” Jongin slaps a hand on his head, “I keep forgetting–“

 

“Gum?” Kyungsoo smiles. Jongin nods sheepishly. “It’s no biggie, I’ll just get it from the next register.”

 

Jongin smiles at him gratefully and Kyungsoo thinks it’s so worth the small trouble of unlocking himself out of his lane to get gum from the next.

 

“Raspberry again?” he calls out.

 

“Apple this time, if you have it!”

 

They do have it, luckily, but Kyungsoo feels like he would have scrounged through the entire store to find what Jongin wanted.

 

Wow, he really needed to chill the hell out. He chalks it up to not wanting to see the other looking all sad again. That’s definitely it.

 

“You’re wearing an apron today,” Jongin points out when he gets back. Kyungsoo pauses to take a look at the deli apron he still has on, having helped Jongdae beforehand. Kyungsoo smiles at him.

 

“You’re wearing a cape,” he replies cheekily.

 

“Yeah, I guess I am,” Jongin blushes slightly, the pink of his cheeks matching the pink of the cape. Kyungsoo is about to die from how cute he is.  

 

Kyungsoo doesn't want to overstep any boundaries, especially with this guy he barely knows, a guy he’d only met one other time, but he’s just too curious at this point to let it go.

 

“So what about you? And your cape?” Jongin looks a little confused so he elaborates a little. “Are you… some kind of superhero?”

 

Jongin smiles at him, a little shy and a little amused. He takes the receipt from Kyungsoo and puts it in one of the bags before picking them up. “I guess you could say that. Well, at least I try to be.”

 

Kyungsoo doesn’t know what that means and he tries to let it go for the moment, except that he can’t help conjuring up images of Jongin the cape-wearing vigilante. But that doesn't really add up, because Jongin’s never come in here with any visible injuries.

 

Unless…

 

Kyungsoo gasps slightly. He’s just had an epiphany.

 

_Maybe_ all the junk food is what refuels Jongin.

 

Jongin coughs slightly, and only then does Kyungsoo snap out of his faraway thoughts and stop nodding to himself. Jongin smiles at him unsurely as the cashier chases away his bizarre thoughts. He is so tired right now.

 

“So, I’ll be going now. See you, bye!”

 

Jongin looks absolutely adorable as he struggles a little to carry the bags in both arms and he still smiles at Kyungsoo despite his weird behaviour.  

 

“Bye, Jongin.”

 

He watches the pink cape flutter behind him and smiles to himself. He has another epiphany: maybe Jongin’s superpower is making everyone he meets feel happy and warm, because if so, he’s really fucking good at it.

 

“You didn’t get his number yet?” Jongdae’s voice floats into his ear.

 

“No, Jongdae. I did not.” Kyungsoo turns to face the slacker he’s paired up to work with. “I’ve only met him twice, and our interactions have been limited to like, 4 words a minute.”

 

“So? People have hooked up for less.”

 

“We’re not all you Jongdae,” he murmurs.

 

“Don’t slutshame me, I just like blowjobs,” his co-worker tuts. “Hey, you gonna offer me one?”

 

“What?!” Kyungsoo leans away from his friend incredulously.

 

“I shouldn't have lead the conversation like that,” Jongdae laughs, and then laughs some more at Kyungsoo’s expression. “I was talking about _that,_ Kyungsoo. You gonna offer me one?”

 

Jongdae is pointing at something in Kyungsoo’s hand, and he didn't even feel the tiny packet till it was pointed out. And, oh _shit_.

 

“Shit,” Kyungsoo spits, unlocking the small gate and getting out of his register in a hurry. “This isn’t mine, it’s Jongin’s.”

 

“And…? He’s not here.” Jongdae seems amused at his slight panic.

 

“I have to go give it to him,” he starts heading for the door, ignoring Jongdae’s protests of _but you can’t leave me here alone_. “If I run, I can probably make it, it’s only been a couple of minutes since he’s left. You’ll be fine Jongdae, my shift is almost over anyway.”

 

“Dude you can’t just leave me here!”

 

“You don’t understand Jongdae, this is what keeps him alive.” He ignores the skeptical look he’s given and runs out of the store.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kyungsoo tries his luck and stops to talk to a man in a business suit, loitering outside a building. Presumably, his office. He’s probably a bit early or something.

 

“Hey, mister, did a guy in a pink cape come by here?” he asks him, panting slightly.

 

The man looks at him in disbelief, a mirror image of the expression Jongdae had given him in the store. He looks at him, a sweaty check-out boy with disheveled hair and schools his face into a more neutral expression before he answers the question.

 

“I haven’t seen anyone in a _pink cape_ pass by,” he starts, “but there was a man in a _pink cape_ flying in the sky.”

 

“Wait, really?”

 

Jongin’s power was _flight_?

 

The man laughs. Kyungsoo barely hears the _no, you dumbass!_ he’s given when he sees a bob of bright pink flutter behind the bend. He rushes towards it, leaving behind the guffawing man.

 

Kyungsoo turns around the corner and sees Jongin disappear once again, this time into a brightly lit building. He follows slowly behind, a little cautious. He’s still weary of what’s happening, half convinced that Jongin is a superhero/vigilante.

 

In reality, he really just needs a little bit of sleep.

 

He stops in front of the entrance of the building, the white lights from inside washing out into the street behind him. Through the glass doors, he sees Jongin greet a few people dressed in a drab, pale blue, and he enters without second thought.

 

Jongin’s walking away, and he’s about to call out to him when he’s stopped by one of the people Jongin had been talking to.

 

“Visiting hours haven’t started yet.” Is what she says.

 

Visiting hours? Where exactly was he? That doesn’t matter right now, Jongin was getting further and further away.

 

“I’m with him,” Kyungsoo points at the slowly receding pink cape. The woman eyes him down, and he then realises that he’s still in his work apron. He laughs nervously as he pulls the strings and removes it, before folding it in half and wearing it again, this time, on his shoulders: a shorter, less graceful version of a cape.

 

He shrugs at the woman.

 

“You’re a volunteer too?”

 

“I– yes. I am that. That, I am.” He looks again at Jongin who’s stopped in front of the elevator doors at the end of the hallway.  

 

The lady seems unconvinced and Kyungsoo can’t really blame her. “Can I see your volunteer ID?”

 

Great. Kyungsoo thinks _fuck it_ , he’s probably going to get kicked out anyway so he just tries his luck (and his charm), with her. He smiles at her sweetly, the ‘heart-shaped’ one people often speak of. “That is a trick question. Volunteers don’t have volunteer IDs.”

 

He braces himself as he watches her expression change from chaotic neutral to neutral good. “Alright kid, you can go.”

 

Kyungsoo doesn’t let the shock show on his face as he smiles gratefully, bows a little out of respect and runs towards the elevator. He can’t believe _that_ worked. Luck is seriously on his side today, he thinks to himself, the elevator doors opening just as Kyungsoo reaches Jongin.

 

“Kyungsoo?” Jongin looks at him, a confused smile on his face, like Kyungsoo is a pleasant surprise to him instead of a panting mess. “What are you doing here?”

 

They both step into the elevator together, and Jongin punches the button for the 4th floor while Kyungsoo catches his breath.

 

“You left this behind,” he says once he’s calmed his racing heart, and hands over the pack of gum to Jongin. Jongin looks at it, wide-eyed. A light blush appears on the surface of his cheeks and Kyungsoo has the sudden urge to touch it.

 

“I can’t believe I forgot this,” he talks to the gum in Kyungsoo’s hand, “thank you for bringing it to me.”

 

The elevator doors open and Jongin steps out. He hasn’t taken the gum from Kyungsoo yet, so he steps out too. He speaks again once the elevator doors have closed. “You’re welcome.”

 

Jongin reaches out to take the gum, but hesitates for a second and says, “are you free right now?”

 

“I guess so,” if Kyungsoo was being real, he should probably go home and get some sleep before he starts his shift at the café this afternoon, but he figures he might as well stick around and find out what Jongin’s superpower is.

 

“Good,” Jongin smiles and Kyungsoo is temporarily blinded. “You can do my rounds with me today,” he pauses for a second and looks at Kyungsoo like he’s seeing him for the first time. An even bigger smile blooms on his face. “You’re in costume too!”

 

“Oh, yeah,” he says awkwardly and shrugs, “I guess I could be your sidekick today.”

 

Jongin’s still smiling wide as leads him into a corridor with doors along both sides of the walls. Everything about this place is whitewashed and sterile, and there's a strong smell of antibiotics and something else, something that frightens him. The path is scattered with spare stretchers and trays of hospital equipment and a few people in the same blue uniform milling around, rifling through papers attached to clipboards.

 

It finally clicks in his head.

 

“We’re in a hospital?”

 

“Yeah,” Jongin answers, like it’s obvious. And it is, but Kyungsoo was in too much of a rush to recognise the place. “It’s a children’s hospital. You didn’t look at the sign before you came in?”

 

“I was preoccupied with catching up to you.”

 

“Right,” Jongin laughs a little melody, “thank you again, Kyungsoo.”

 

“It’s not a problem Jongin,” and before he could stop his tired mouth he blurts out, “I thought they were for sustaining your strength.”

 

Jongin laughs, “did you think I had some kind of superpower or something?”

 

“No…” Jongin quirks an eyebrow at him. “…yes.”

 

Jongin laughs again, big and bright and cute, just like his overalls, just like his cape, just like his entire personality. It dies down into a small hum, as they both stop behind the first door.

 

“I guess we all have superpowers, Kyungsoo.”

 

The door opens into a small room, housing a single bed with a single patient. Kyungsoo sobers up immediately as he eyes the flowers on the bedside table, and the balloons by the foot of the bed, the pictures and drawing pasted tackily all over the walls. There’s a steady _beep… beep… beep…_ resonating in the room, so different to the one he’s used to, and he feels his stomach drop and tears prick at his eyes.

 

He wasn’t ready for this.

 

“Jonginnie!” the boy on the bed yells, spreading his skinny arms wide open to pull Jongin into a tight embrace. Kyungsoo wipes his eyes hastily.

 

“Hey little guy. I brought you your favourite!” Jongin says as he pulls out a tub of chocolate ice cream from his bag and places it next to the flowers for show. The boy claps and laughs and hugs Jongin again and just the pure joy on his face pulls at Kyungsoo’s chest. Jongin looks back at him and nods, a little bit encouraging and a little bit understanding. He speaks to the boy again, “this is my sidekick, Kyungsoo. He helps me get you guys all the goodies. And this time he helped me sneak them in! Kyungsoo, this in Jinwoo.”

 

“Hi, Jinwoo,” Kyungsoo sniffs and wipes his eyes again and smiles at the boy. Jinwoo scrunches his nose at him.

 

“He needs a better cape.”

 

Kyungsoo and Jongin both laugh at that. Jinwoo doesn’t get what’s so funny, so he just shrugs and diverts his attention to the chocolate ice cream next to his bed.

 

Jongin brings him a spoon and lets him eat straight out of the tub, and Jinwoo just looks so happy. Kyungsoo blinks away a few more tears as he watches the way Jongin plays around with the boy, a genuine smile, a soft gaze. Kyungsoo feels a part of him fall for the way Jongin cares about this kid, and he isn’t sure how big that part is just yet, but he knows that’s something he’s looking forward to figuring out.

 

When Jinwoo’s done with his ice cream, Jongin is quick to dispose of the small tub and wash the spoon. He drops a kiss on the boy’s head and whispers something before he looks back at Kyungsoo.

 

All he can do at this point is gulp at Jongin’s expression, feeling bittersweet himself. He doesn’t speak until they exit the room.

 

“So you sneak in junk food for these kids?”

 

“Yep.” Jongin says, opening the door to the next room. “I try to, at least once a week. They don’t get to eat anything that actually tastes good. And I mean, they’re _kids_ , Kyungsoo. I just can't help it.”

 

“Wow.” Kyungsoo is speechless. This superpower is so much better than he had imagined. This room is similar to the previous one, but so distinctly different. The girl on the bed stretches her arms out in the same way and before he can stop himself, he whispers, “you’re truly amazing.”

 

They visit a number of rooms, and every single child has greeted them both with the brightest smiles and the biggest hugs. Jongin interacts cutely with the children, and Kyungsoo watches with a small smile on his face. The kids play with his cape, hiding behind it or wrapping it around their small hands. They play with his hair, his overalls (they’re a hit with the children), his hands. And Jongin lets them, indulges them in whatever they want like an older sibling who dotes on you.  Kyungsoo can’t stop his fondness from growing and multiplying exponentially.  

 

Kyungsoo is about to push open another door, when Jongin’s arm comes out to intercept his. He looks up at him, unable to read the look on his face.

 

“She’s been here the longest,” he says, and though anyone else might have probed for more information, Kyungsoo has seen so much today that explanation is more than enough. He nods, and pushes open the door.

 

There’s a girl on the bed, barely conscious. The only indication that she’s awake is her eyes lighting up in recognition at the sight of the pink cape and her fingers twitching up to hold Jongin’s hand. There’s a beanie over her head, and an oxygen mask and several other tubes covering her face.

 

“Hello gorgeous,” Jongin says quietly and kisses the back of the girl’s hand. The girl laughs breathily, the sound muffled by the mask. “I brought your gum, you little rebel. And i brought my sidekick too. This is Kyungsoo.”

 

Kyungsoo steps closer to them when he’s gestured to. He’s a little cautious, this moment seems too important to screw up. The girl stares at him with wide eyes as Jongin continues the introduction, “Kyungsoo, this is Binnie.”

 

The girl’s eyes close into little slits as she grins widely at him, and she lets go of Jongin’s hand to hold his. Kyungsoo’s heart jumps into his throat at how frail she feels, and at the soft, gentle way she holds onto him.

 

She makes a noise like she’s trying to speak but neither of them understand.

 

“What was that Binnie?” Jongin questions her lightly.

 

“I said,” she breathes and looks at Kyungsoo directly, “your cape sucks.”

 

Kyungsoo laughs hard, so hard that he starts to tear up again, though he isn’t sure if they’re caused solely by his laughter. Jongin laughs too, and Binnie as well, and Kyungsoo just replies with, “Jongin doesn’t want me stealing his thunder.”

 

They spend more time with her, much longer than the others. They talk and laugh together, but for most of the time, Kyungsoo ends up sitting in silence, watching the way Jongin handles Binnie like she’s the most precious thing in the world, like everything she says needs to be heard by everyone, loud and clear, like she’s the only important thing in Jongin’s life. And the more they interact, the more Kyungsoo starts to feel it too.

 

They stay in there till the little girl falls asleep. Jongin has to gently pry her fingers off the material of his cape, and he sighs softly before leaving with Kyungsoo. When they turn to face each other, Kyungsoo expects to see a sad expression on his face, but instead Jongin smiles at him warmly and he feels it all the way to the tips of his toes.

 

“Thank you again for coming with me.”

 

Kyungsoo smiles, and gets an idea: another epiphany. A good one this time.

 

“Jongin. This has been the best day. I mean it,” he pauses to take a breath. “If you want, and I mean you can totally say no, but if you want… I can be your permanent sidekick?”

 

Kyungsoo bites his lip, clenching his fists at his side as he prays for any outcome but rejection. His shoulders relax and his breath steadies at the sight of Jongin’s smile, growing wider and wider by the second. For once Kyungsoo is glad his mouth has a mind of it’s own.

 

“I would like that very much.”

 

Kyungsoo grins back as he adds this on to the list of jobs he’s already got.  But there is no doubt in Kyungsoo’s mind that this is, in fact, the best job in the world.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> end note: THANK YOU TO TINA, FOR BEING BORN, WITHOUT WHOM THIS FIC WOULDN'T EXIST. i really hope you liked it!!!!!!!!! i love you a lot tina hehe. also thank you to everyone who reads/ leaves kudos/ comments, you have no idea how much your support means to me :")  (hint hint issa lot). anywaaaaaaaaay i hope you enjoyed!!! my dm's are always open if you want to chat ♡♡ stay tuned for more stuff!!! mumma chrissy over n out
> 
> end note x2: yes yes the title is from one direction's song


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